Document Type
Journal Article
Publisher
Springer Nature
School
School of Science
RAS ID
23457
Funders
HERMIONE (GA 226354)
PERSEUS (GA 287600)
FORMED (CGL2012-33989)
ABIDES (CTM2015-65142-R)
Generalitat de Catalunya (grants 2014 SGR-1642 and 2014 SGR-1356)
Abstract
Many studies highlight that fish trawling activities cause seafloor erosion, but the assessment of the remobilization of surface sediments and its relocation is still not well documented. These impacts were examined along the flanks and axes of three headless submarine canyons incised on the Barcelona continental margin, where trawling fleets have been operating for decades. Trawled grounds along canyon flanks presented eroded and highly reworked surface sediments resulting from the passage of heavy trawling gear. Sedimentation rates on the upper canyon axes tripled and quadrupled its natural (i.e. pre-industrialization) values after a substantial increase in total horsepower of the operating trawling fleets between 1960 s and 1970 s. These impacts affected the upper canyon reaches next to fishing grounds, where sediment resuspended by trawling can be transported towards the canyon axes. This study highlights that bottom trawling has the capacity to alter natural sedimentary environments by promoting sediment-starved canyon flanks, and by enhancing sedimentation rates along the contiguous axes, independently of canyons’ morphology. Considering the global mechanisation and offshore expansion of bottom trawling fisheries since the mid-20th century, these sedimentary alterations may occur in many trawled canyons worldwide, with further ecological impacts on the trophic status of these non-resilient benthic communities.
DOI
10.1038/srep43332
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Paradis, S., Puig, P., Masqué, P., Juan-Díaz, X., Martín, J., & Palanques, A. (2017). Bottom-trawling along submarine canyons impacts deep sedimentary regimes. Scientific Reports, 7, Article 43332.
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep43332